PH, other nations allow chicken from Europe in
Seven countries, including the Philippines, have either lifted or partly lifted restrictions on poultry imports from European Union member states that had earlier reported outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), the European Commission said Monday.
In a note, the EC said the trading partners that dropped their “unjustified” avian influenza measures were the Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and Ukraine.
These countries imposed restrictions after the bird flu virus was detected in poultry as well as captive and wild birds in several EU states between November 2014 and February 2015.
“The EU welcomes the lifting of these measures, though countrywide bans should not have been imposed in the first place. The EU had immediately rolled out stringent regionalization measures for the affected areas which guaranteed safe trade from areas that remained free of the disease,” the EC explained.
The lifting of the restrictions was crucial to the EU as exports of poultry and poultry products form an important part of the regional bloc’s global trade. In 2013, the EU exported 2.5-billion euros worth of poultry and poultry products, including eggs.
The EC called on its trading partners to continue respecting their international obligations and to recognize the regionalization measures applied by the EU.
“The EU measures are strictly applied, are in line with international standards and have proven to be very effective. During the recent outbreaks, poultry and poultry products of the EU have continued to be traded in full safety. Indeed, the international trade rules under the World Trade Organization are very clear and call for applying the least trade restrictive measures and to recognize the regionalization measures put in place so that trade can continue to take place from the disease-free areas,” the EC said.
The EU welcomed that most of its trading partners did not impose a countrywide ban on affected EU states and had recognized the EU measures put in place.
